Topic: Day-by-Day Review: 2012 Subaru Impreza; Day 1

[Mike]

I wonder if the sedan is that much different?  Wind noise is very low on my tester and I cannot hear the CVT at all.

I assume there is no sound deadening material under the hood of the CVT equipped Impreza as well?  If not, do you hear a lot of the boxer rumbling?  I did in the 5-speed, but had no CVT to compete for sound.

[random006]

James, what kind of fuel numbers are you seeing so far in the Impreza?

Was 8.8 until I idled for 15min this morning trying to scrape the ice off.  Now 9.6.

Oh and Mike, you didn't come anywhere near Ottawa if you went from Montreal - Toronto via the 401

True, should have said Ottawa exit   Is there some other road out of Montreal that meets up with the 401 around the Ontario border?  In an effort to avoid the traffic/accident madness in Montreal my GPS sent my out of town through some small towns and on a different highway.

Yes, there is, although you really have to define "near the border" carefully.    There are several roads linking the 40 (417 in Ontario) the 20 (401 in Ontario):

• HWY 540
• HWY 201
• HWY 325

[sacrat]

I wonder if the sedan is that much different?  Wind noise is very low on my tester and I cannot hear the CVT at all.

See below for plausible explanation Wing

From Mach2billy "I took an Impreza sedan for a test drive a couple of weeks ago and thought it was pretty decent, except for one big problem - noise. The CVT lets out a whine constantly which of course gets worse when you're accelerating. Add that to the considerable wind noise that occurred at 100 kph on a calm day, and I figured I would have to be deaf in order to live with that car - or else it would need one of those electronic noise cancelling systems in the cabin."

Mystery solved 

[wing]

Lol

I've got perfect hearing, I tried again on the way home.  Had to turn off the heat and radio yet could hear nothing but a bit of tire noise.  The fan s loud that is sure though!

[wing]

Hmm it does whine very loudly when cold!  Once warmed it stops

[Snowman]

Hmm it does whine very loudly when cold!  Once warmed it stops

that's what she said

[dirtyjeffer]

Hmm it does whine very loudly when cold!  Once warmed it stops

that's what she said

EPIC "that's what she said" timing.

[Blueprint]

Maybe it's just me, but looking at the rear 3/4 views of the Impreza hatch has me thinking "gen 2 Dodge Caliber".  The only generation change not messed up by Subaru's styling dpt was the Forester.

[Nuttygent]

  That as tested fuel consumption better worry Subaru if they are hoping to increase the number of Impreza's they want to sell. That's a deal breaker for me which is a shame as I was impressed with the technology of the new engine. They may want to introduce direct injection very soon.

[2JDM]

Maybe it's just me, but looking at the rear 3/4 views of the Impreza hatch has me thinking "gen 2 Dodge Caliber".  The only generation change not messed up by Subaru's styling dpt was the Forester.

Agreed 100%.

I have already seen quite a few of these already, about 50:50 hatch:sedan.

[nlm]

  That as tested fuel consumption better worry Subaru if they are hoping to increase the number of Impreza's they want to sell. That's a deal breaker for me which is a shame as I was impressed with the technology of the new engine. They may want to introduce direct injection very soon.

2012 Impreza radio ads: 51mpg.    Is this a lawsuit waiting to happen?

[nlm]

What are the chances of that BR-Z 2.0L DI eventually making its way into the Impreza?

[nsmyhte]

Tuners can fix all that stuff  I have launch control now

I have launch control on the Forester.  It's called "only 165hp and AWD..."

Very controlled launch indeed.

[2latecrew]

A Subaru where you can't go to the parking lot in the winter and do power slides and doughnuts in the snow. 

[Car Guy]

Unfortunately, Subaru has managed to remove itself from my radar.  The dramatic drop in engine performance combined with the only option for an automatic being a cvt means that I no longer consider the Impreza as a option.  They could have very nicely increased fuel milage by building the lighter chasis without giving up so much hp under the hood.  And Subaru's are supposed to be fun cars to drive.  No cvt transmission on the face of the planet can be considered "fun" (even Nissan's - which are the best in the business) but had they put in a proper conventional 6 or 7 speed transmission, they would have created the perfect modern day "pcoket rocket".  Too bad.

Not very good work Subaru! 

[redman]

What are the chances of that BR-Z 2.0L DI eventually making its way into the Impreza?

Never say never but the BR-Z is a team effort (Subaru & Toyota) both contributing to engine engineering and fuel management (FA engine). The Impreza is Subaru's baby new (FB engine). So the question comes down to would Toyota be comfortable enough lending Subaru it's co-designed engine or would they rather keep it exclusive to their shared car ? I agree the new 2012 Impreza falls flat and needs a strong boost to offset the loss of displacement and the CVT setup.

[nlm]

Never say never but the BR-Z is a team effort (Subaru & Toyota) both contributing to engine engineering and fuel management (FA engine). The Impreza is Subaru's baby new (FB engine). So the question comes down to would Toyota be comfortable enough lending Subaru it's co-designed engine or would they rather keep it exclusive to their shared car ? I agree the new 2012 Impreza falls flat and needs a strong boost to offset the loss of displacement and the CVT setup.

Right. And Mike reports that it is not setup for Sub's AWD system. Hopefully they can learn from the experience and make improvements to their new 2.0L.